Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre (Russian: Большой театр, Bol'shoy Teatr, Large Theater) is a world-famous theatre and opera company in Moscow, Russia, which gives performances of ballet and opera. It is in the centre of Moscow, near the Kremlin.

The Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow, Russia

History of the building

The Bolshoi Theatre began in 1776 when Empress Catherina II allowed Prince Pyotr Urusov to run theatrical performances.^[1] That theatre burned down and a new one was built in 1825. After that one burned down too, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1856. After that, no important repairs were made to the building for 150 years. By the beginning of the 21st century it was in a very bad state and in danger of falling down. Major repairs were started in 2005, and the theatre was re-opened in 2011.

At the time of the Communist Revolution (1917), the Bolsheviks thought the theatre represented the old tsars and everything that had been bad in Russia. They wanted to demolish it. Then they started to use it for their meetings. Lenin and Stalin both gave speeches there. The operas that were performed had to be ones that did not criticize the Soviet Union in any way^[2]

References

1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-06-05. Retrieved 2010-07-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
2. "The Grand Rebirth of the Bolshoi" in The Independent, Wed 27 April 2011 p.29.

Other websites

• From Russia With Love: Costumes for the Ballets Russes 1909-1933 Archived 2010-07-23 at the Wayback Machine